Scores on most 2005 CSAP tests rose this year, with math scores showing solid improvement among white and minority students.
“Some striking gains were made in math,” said Colorado Commissioner of Education Bill Moloney.

But reading scores remain flat in many grades, prompting one education official to say a “full court press” is needed to get reading scores up.

Overall, 451,000 students in grades 3-10 were tested in late February and early March. The results of the CSAP, released today are used to calculate each school’s academic rating.

Schools with consistently low ratings face conversion into charter schools. Only one school in Colorado – Cole Middle School in Denver – is undergoing that change.

About two percent of eligible students refused to take the 2005 exam, despite persistent concerns and protests over the fairness of using CSAP data to rate schools, said Moloney.

“You always hear about people opting out of the CSAP, but in truth they are not,” he said.

As in past years, state officials touted the slow, steady upswing in scores as proof most Colorado schools are getting most students up to state standards in many subjects. Fourteen of 23 tests showed positive student gains.

Moloney and others were also pleased with jumps in math scores on the 2005 CSAP. The percentage of students in the proficient and advanced categories improved over 2004 results in all six grades.

Those hikes were spread among minority students as well. The percentage of black, Hispanic, Asian and white students in the proficient categories improved over 2004 results in all six grades tested both years.

Native American students improved in five of the six grades (5,6,7,8 and 9) tested in both years, according to the state.

However, fewer than half of black and Hispanic students, grade 5-10, were able to do grade-level math, according to the CSAP results.

A new emphasis on math education by the State Board of Education helped boost scores, Colorado Department of Education officals said. The board sent to every school in Colorado reminders of state math standards, a practice that will be repeated for science next year.

There has also been an almost unanimous acceptance of math curriculum that adheres to state standards throughout all districts in Colorado, said officials.

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